The field of the invention relates generally to sensor assemblies and, more particularly, to sensor assemblies used with turbomachines.
At least some known turbomachines, such as turbine engines, include at least one component that may become damaged or worn over time. For example, known turbine engines include rotatable components, such as compressor blades and turbine buckets that may exhibit corrosion on the surfaces of the components or stress-related cracking. Moreover, many known turbomachines include stationary components, such as compressor stator vanes and turbine diaphragms that are interspersed with the rotatable compressor blades and turbine buckets, respectively. Continued operation with worn blades, buckets, vanes, and diaphragms may cause additional damage to such components and/or may cause damage of adjacent or downstream components. As such, routine assessments and/or inspections of rotatable and stationary components of a turbine engine are necessary, including visual inspections.
Many known visual inspection methods require at least partial disassembly of the turbomachine such that the rotatable components are removed from the turbomachine to facilitate visual inspections of the stationary components. Such disassembly increases the costs of the inspections and increases a time that the turbomachine is removed from service. Moreover, the stationary portions of the turbomachines are closely spaced and have intricate configurations that may increase the time and cost to perform a consistent and reliable inspection. As such, visual inspections of stationary components may require further disassembly, increased inspection resources, and specialized technological skills and equipment.